Tbilisi City Court judge Giorgi Arevadze rejected the motion of former President Mikheil Saakashvili's lawyers regarding the questioning of Justice Minister Rati Bregadze in the court.

"If this case is widely known and many people are commenting on this issue... On the one hand, we are in a hurry and we want to make a decision on time, and on the other hand, we should follow everyone who makes a statement somewhere?! Do you want me to bring the Minister of Justice here and reprimand him? I believe that the motion presented should not be granted for the simple reason that a political official who makes certain statements to the press cannot be a witness. Moreover, the arguments that the lawyer voiced were already known to them at the end of November, and they could have voiced them at the initial stage if there was a need to question them. Interrogation of all additional witnesses will take our time, especially the witness who is not an expert on the health of the convicted person and cannot provide us with information in this regard," the judge noted.

At today's court session, which is currently underway, Shalva Khachapuridze filed a motion to interrogate the Minister of Justice, Rati Bregadze, as a witness.

"As the court knows, at the very first session, the lawyer presented a report to the court, which chronologically presented the political statements of the Prime Minister of Georgia, the Ministers of Justice and Health, the Speaker of the Parliament, the Chairman of the ruling party and the Chairman of the Parliament Committee regarding Mikheil Saakashvili's health condition, which contained information on medical personnel, the investigation and signs of pressure on officials employed in the judicial system. After the publication of this report at the court session, the cases of evaluations of political statements and personal insults and attacks of Saakashvili by government officials have really stopped. It seems that the Minister of Justice of Georgia does not report and does not respect the justice system of Georgia and the Tbilisi City Court, because during the last week, in the public space, he makes statements of political content that prevent or directly interfere with the implementation of justice. Accordingly, the Minister of Justice should be invited to appear in court and testify whether he is relying on the evidence when he claims that the convicted Mikheil Saakashvili engages in self-harm and wants to end his life in this way. We ask the court to summon Rati Bregadze to testify as a witness at the court session. Tell us why his system does not provide adequate treatment to Mikheil Saakashvili," said Shalva Khachapuridze.

source: IPN